Zephyrarchaea marae, the West Gippsland assassin spider, is a spider in the family Archaeidae. The species was first described by Michael G. Rix and Mark Harvey in 2012. It is endemic to Victoria in Australia.[1]

Zephyrarchaea marae anatomy

Zephyrarchaea marae
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Archaeidae
Genus: Zephyrarchaea
Species:
Z. marae
Binomial name
Zephyrarchaea marae
Rix & Harvey, 2012

Taxonomy

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The species specific name is a patronym in honour of Dr. Māra Blosfeld.[2]

Description

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The males are 3.03 mm long, while the females are 3.95 mm long.[2]

Distribution and habitat

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The species is known only from temperate rainforest and mesic closed forest habitats Dandenong and Strzelecki Ranges of West Gippsland, south and southeast of Melbourne.[2]

Conservation

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The species is found throughout several national parks, and does not require any conservation action.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "NMBE - World Spider Catalog". wsc.nmbe.ch. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  2. ^ a b c d Rix, Michael G.; Harvey, Mark S. (2012-05-07). "Australian Assassins, Part II: A review of the new assassin spider genus Zephyrarchaea (Araneae, Archaeidae) from southern Australia". ZooKeys (191): 1–62. doi:10.3897/zookeys.191.3070. ISSN 1313-2989. PMC 3353492. PMID 22639534.